Minutes of the Meeting of Cardiff University Council Held on Monday 17 December 2012 In

12/439R

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF CARDIFF UNIVERSITY COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 17 DECEMBER 2012 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, MAIN BUILDING AT 5.00PM.

Present: Mr John Jeans (Chair), Vice-Chancellor, Mr Raj Aggarwal,
Mr Ricardo Calil, Mr Guy Clarke, Professor Roy Evans,
Mr Simon Gibson [Minute 870 onwards], Dr Grahame Guilford, Mrs Susan Gwyer-Roberts, Mrs Philippa Herbert, Mr Daniel Hodgson, Professor Karen Holford, Mr Harry Newman [Minute 869 onwards], Mrs Fiona Peel, Reverend Gareth Powell, Mr Robert Preece, Professor Patricia Price, Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Dr Gabe Treharne and Professor James Whitley.

In Attendance: Professor George Boyne, Mr Mike Davies, Ms Jayne Dowden, Dr Sue Hybart, Mr Hugh Jones, Mrs Sharon Orton, Mr Rhys Thomas and Dr Chris Turner.

Apologies for absence were received from: Ms Maria Battle, Ms Elizabeth Button, Professor Walter Gear, Professor Hywel Thomas and Mrs Glenys Williams.

865 PRELIMINARIES

865.1 Pre-meeting Presentation

NOTED that the meeting had been preceded by a presentation by Professor Patricia Price on “Massive Open Access Online Courses” (MOOCs). The University has entered into a consortium agreement with other UK universities, and led by the OU, to provide a new platform for free online courses.

865.2 Congratulations

NOTED, with pleasure, the following honours/achievements:

.1 The School of Journalism and Media’s Newspaper Journalism postgraduate training programme has been named the Best Performing Higher Education Postgraduate course in 2011-12 by the National Council for the Training of Journalists;

.2 Dr Maggie Woodhouse, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, awarded a lifetime Achievement Commendation in the 2012 Understanding Disability Awards for her work on the long-term study of visual and cognitive development of young children with Down’s syndrome.

865.3 Deaths

NOTED, with sadness, the following deaths:

.1 Professor Alfred White, former senior Lecturer and Professor of German [School of European Studies], 1979 – 2007, died 23 November 2012;

.2 Mr Alec Robinson, Director of Computing 1976 to 1991, died November 2012;

.3 Dr David Bryant former Dean of Faculties of Arts and of Humanities and Social Studies 1987 – 1990, died 30 November 2012.

A moment’s silence was observed as a mark of respect.

866 MINUTES

The Minutes of Council held on 5 November 2012 (12/423) were agreed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

867 ITEMS FROM THE CHAIR

867.1 HEFCW visit: 6 December 2012

NOTED

.1 that there had been positive feedback from HEFCW following the meeting on 6 December;

.2 that the Vice-Chancellor had set out the vision and ambition of the University and that HEFCW Council members and officers had asked a number of detailed questions and appeared very satisfied with the responses provided by the Vice-Chancellor, other officers and lay-members;

.3 the Chair particularly thanked those lay members who had been able to attend for their contribution to the event.

867.2 Chairs of Higher Education Wales [CHEW]

NOTED

.1 that CHEW had had its annual meeting with the Minister of Education, Leighton Andrews;

.2 that the Minister had indicated that he had no particular concerns with HEis in Wales at present;

.3 that the main challenge was the projected HEFCW deficit and how that would be dealt with by HEFCW and the Welsh Government;

.4 that it was possible that, in future, activities currently funded by HEFCW initiative or special funding would have to be funded by institutions. However, the Minister gave an assurance that he would expect HEFCW to protect QR funding as far as possible in relation to the forthcoming REF exercise.

868 REPORT FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR

Received and considered paper 12/431, ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report’.

NOTED

868.1 that this was the first Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Council in this format;

868.2 that the early snapshot of student numbers for 2012/13 showed an excellent performance for Home undergraduate and all categories of overseas students but a disappointing result for home taught postgraduate numbers;

868.3 that the Home undergraduate numbers compared very favourably to the performance of other Russell Group universities and with the sector generally;

868.4 that the cost of Home taught postgraduate courses in the current economic climate was a probable factor for the reduction in numbers;

868.5 that early data on applications for 2013-14 was also encouraging, though the challenge would be to convert applications into admissions in the coming months;

868.6 concern over the impact on the overall student experience should the percentage of overseas students increase significantly;

868.7 that a more detailed consideration of student numbers would take place at the lay members meeting in January, including examination of the spread of recruitment across the University and what factors might be influencing the University’s success in this area;

868.8 that the focus of REF preparations (the mock exercises) was to maximize the number of staff submitted in a manner that was consistent with the overriding aim of achieving a top 10 position for the quality of our research and that it was therefore unlikely that the University would wish to submit staff with only 2* rated outputs;

868.9 that the University was urgently addressing, through the usual internal channels, issues raised in two enforcement notices, one from Health and Safety Executive and one from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Services.

869 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2011-12

Received and considered papers 12/1R, Cardiff University Annual Accounts 2011-12’ and 12/2R, ‘Judgement Paper’.

NOTED

869.1 that at the Audit Committee meeting on 4 December 2012 a detailed discussion was held on the treatment of Biofusion shares in the Accounts;

869.2 that it had been agreed that the external auditors should take technical advice on the matter and, with that advice having been obtained the outcome was a decision that the Accounts should be formally adjusted;

869.3 that it had finally been agreed that as there was no restriction on the transfer of Biofusion shares, the investment should have been separately accounted for from inception, with gains or losses taken to a revaluation reserve or I&E as relevant, rather than to deferred income;

869.4 the Accounts and covering paper and the Judgement Paper have been amended to reflect this change;

869.5 that the impact of the change was to reduce the operating surplus from M£9.5 to M£8.9 in 2011/12 , removing the income released from the appreciation of the Fusion share value of M£2.2 and replacing it with the release of M£1.6 related to the original investment.;

869.6 that appropriate changes had also been made in the cash flow and balance sheet;

869.7 that, in addition to the issue of Biofusion shares, the Audit Committee had also discussed at length the question of the level of materiality used by the external auditors as the basis of reporting matters of concern that might affect the Accounts;

869.8 that the Audit Committee planned to revisit this issue at a subsequent meeting;

869.9 that the reference in the Judgement Paper to ensuring that “funds from HEFCW are used only for the purposes for which they have been given” was unlikely to be affected by the level of “unfunded” research currently being carried out and this would be understood by HEFCW.

RESOLVED

869.10 to approve the draft Accounts for 2010/11 as detailed in paper 12/1R;

869.11 to delegate authority to the Treasurer to make any further presentational changes to the Accounts that may be required prior to submission to HEFCW.

870 AUDIT COMMITTEE

Received and considered the following papers:

·  12/405R – Minutes: 1 November 2012

·  12/430 - Minutes: 4 December 2012

·  12/404 - Audit Committee Annual Report to Council

·  12/344B - JIAU Annual Report 2011-12

·  12/3B - Value for Money, Risk Management and Contingency Planning Annual Report

NOTED

870.1 that the Audit Committee had considered a complementary report on supplier account management, arising from the investigation into the fraud perpetrated against the University in 2012;

870.2 that a follow-up audit on this area of activity would be carried out in April 2013 and the Committee would continue to be kept informed about progress in the fraud case;

870.3 that possible changes to accounting requirements in respect of the treatment of pension deficits in the accounts were being monitored by the Committee;

870.4 that in order to give assurances to Council, as outlined in paragraph 11.3 in its Annual Report [paper 12/404], the Committee received reports and assurances from University management, the external auditors and the Joint Internal Audit Unit throughout the session;

870.5 that the work of the Joint Internal Audit Unit is carefully planned to cover the whole range of University activity over a period of time, and is linked to the University’s risk register;

870.6 that the annual programme was flexible enough to be able to deal with any investigations that may be required and to adapt to changing needs;

870.7 that a report on the implementation of recommendations made in internal audit reports was made periodically to the Committee through the session so that the ‘loop’ was closed and to assure the Committee that matters were being progressed;

870.8 that the Annual Value for Money, Risk Management and Contingency Planning Report had been considered by Policy and Resources and Governance Committees, in addition to Audit Committee;

870.9 that a review of the University’s risk management system would be carried out in 2013 and the application of risk to governance was an area for consideration;

870.10 that separate reports on risk management and value for money would be prepared in future.

RESOLVED

870.11 to approve the submission of the Audit Committee Annual Report to Council and the JIAU Annual Report 2011-12 to HEFCW;

870.12 to note the Value for Money, Risk Management and Contingency Planning Annual Report and approve its submission to HEFCW.

871 REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENTS UNION

NOTED

871.1 that the British University and Colleges Sport (BUCS) had decided, despite Cardiff Students’ Union opposition, that only one team could represent Cardiff University in BUCS competitions, meaning that the Medical School would no longer be able to field its own separate teams, in particular the Cardiff Medicals rugby team, as had been the case since merger in 2004;

871.2 that the consequences of this decision would not be straightforward and consideration was being given to how to preserve the history of the Medical teams going forward;

871.3 that the Union was conducting an extensive survey of student opinion on capital spending options and hoped to submit the outcome to University Executive Board in due course;

871.4 that a review of the full-rime sabbatical team was likely to lead to a reduction in numbers from 8 to 6 and proposals would be brought to Council for approval;

871.5 that the review of staffing of the Union in light of significant financial challenges might lead to some redundancies;

871.6 that the Union looked forward to hosting the Council meeting in May.

872 COLLABORATION AGREEMENT WITH BRISTOL, BATH, EXETER

Received an oral report from Professor Elizabeth Treasure.

NOTED

872.1 that the rationale behind the proposed collaboration with Bath, Bristol and Exeter was that together the universities would have more power than as single institutions;

872.2 that, at present, proposals included

·  the sharing of large items of equipment such as the CUBRIC facilities

·  collaboration on providing post-doctoral training

·  sharing of expertise in other areas where the universities were already collaborating;

872.3 that a ‘soft launch’ of the collaboration was planned for mid-January and the Welsh Education Minister would be informed of the development;

872.4 that the proposals did not prevent collaborations with other institutions, both within and outside Wales;

872.5 that a Memorandum of Understanding was being developed and legal advice was being taken;

872.6 that, if there were any governance issues identified, they would be brought to Council for approval;

872.7 that accounting for the funding of joint ventures would be similar to the process for administering current research grants that involved a number of schools or institutions;

872.8 that use of equipment would be charged for by the host university;

872.9 that this might increase the demand for certain pieces of equipment but that this would be helpful should the institution be seeking to expand or increase the service provided;

872.10 that joint grant applications were welcomed by RCUK and helped to avoid duplication of submissions;

872.11 that the proposal to establish a shared storage facility for older books would not include the Rare Books Collection recently acquired by the University from Cardiff Council;

872.12 that shared storage for data sets might be a future area of collaboration.

873 PLANNING AND BUDGETING PROCESS

Received and considered paper 12/105R, ‘Outline Planning, Budgeting and Performance Review Process’.

NOTED

873.1 that, arising from the introduction of the new College structure, it was appropriate to review the planning and budgeting processes of the University;

873.2 that the new process moved away from allocations to budgeting for outcomes;

873.3 that the process would be cyclical in nature, with regular meetings of the Vice-Chancellor and the three heads of Colleges and the Chief Operating Officer [for the Professional Services];

873.4 that paper 12/105R outlined the principles underpinning the process;

873.5 that one result of the change would be that Council would receive in July each year a document that would detail the proposed budgets for the next session;

873.6 that the principles of the new College structure planning and budgeting process had been explained to Heads of Schools but there was a need for administrative support for the College Heads to be able to put it into practice and to aggregate from School to College level;

873.7 that the process should provide assurance that potential investments are well thought through before being agreed and that accountability for financial investment is clear;

873.8 that the finalisation of the overall University Strategy and the development of associated Key Performance Indicators was planned for the 11 March 2013 meeting of Council to approve.

874 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS NEW BUILD

Received and considered paper 12/425, ‘New Graduate School of Business Building’.

NOTED

874.1 that in December 2010 Council considered and approved a business case to build a Graduate School of Business, with a cost limit of M£10;